A Bird In the Hand: Focus On Keeping Your Existing Clients Happy

Law firms have been long known to
spend more time and effort wooing
new clients and business than on instituting
systems that focus on their existing
clients. The estimated cost of bringing in
new clients is five times that of retaining
and managing current clients. An article
by James L. Heskett, entitled ďFocusing
on Your CustomerĒ in the Harvard
Business Review highlights the importance
of taking care of your current
clients. The article cited that a 5 percent
increase in client loyalty could boost business
from 25 percent to 85 percent. For
law firms to grow, client-focused systems
must play an essential role in their marketing
strategy.

By having good client systems in
place, firms can manage client relationships,
stand out from the competition,
improve profitability, and reduce the cost
of attracting new clients. From a marketing
viewpoint, your clients are your most
important commodity. They are important
sources of referrals; when they are happy
with the service they receive they will
automatically do plenty of word-of-mouth
marketing for the firm. With clientfocused
systems, commodity work based
on price and speed is replaced by highvalue
work in which clients buy experience,
results and personalized service.

When distilled to its basics, value creation
boils down to three things: care, protection
and guidance of your clients.

Clients are looking for care. When a
client is deciding whether to engage a
firm, the client assesses the firmís track
record and attorney credentials in regard
to its particular type of problem; but the
client also seeks a group of people who
genuinely care about them, who will provide
support and instill confidence.

Clients are looking for protection;
they seek advice from the law firm about
combating possible hazards and minefields,
and ways to minimize threats both
real and unforeseen. They come to the
firm for both its wisdom and expertise to
help them navigate through these potential
problems.

In addition, clients are looking for
guidance. They are searching for new
ways to conduct business, put different
structures in place and develop new capabilities
that will save them time and
money. The role of the law firm is to come
up with new creative solutions, as well as
to help clients build on their existing
strengths.
If you are starting to review your
client-focused systems and procedures in
your law firm, at the very basic level make
it a priority to ask your best/new clients
the following questions.

What characteristics or qualities donít you like in your [our?] attorneys?

Are you pleased with our service so far?

Can we do anything better? In which area?

What results do you anticipate from the firm on this matter?

What sort of characteristics/qualities are you looking for in the attorney/firm you are seeking to hire?

Have you had any negative experiences with attorneys and law firms?

These questions demonstrate to the client your commitment to providing the
best service possible and taking concrete
actions where appropriate. More importantly,
it lets the client know that you
value their opinion and input.

While these questions are a good
starting point, there are some areas that
continually resurface when clients are
asked about performance and value from
their law firms. Client dissatisfaction in
the following areas will inevitably reduce
the value of your firmís service.

Failure to meet deadlines and setting
unrealistic goals will start diminishing
your credibility and trust with your client.
Clients may not be aware of the attorneyís
workload, but they do remember what the
attorney committed to do and whether that
commitment was met. A wiser policy
might be to deliver earlier than you had
promised. The attorney will look good
when he comes in ahead of schedule.
When setting deadlines, give yourself a
cushion and allow for the chaos factor,
such as unexpected meetings and work
taking a lot longer than you expected. If
you do miss your deadline commitments,
contact your client and keep them
informed.

One area that consistently draws
complaints from clients is communication,
particularly when it comes to returning
phone calls. Failing to return calls
promptly may not be intentional, but
because of their workload and other pressing
matters, many lawyers often view this
task as a low priority. When circum-
stances make it impossible for you to
return a call, have someone in your office
ó staff, secretary, paralegal or associates
ó do it. Make it a habit to return all client
calls and e-mails within 24 hours. Keeping
the lines of communication open is at the
heart of all good client-focused systems.

Another frequent complaint is that
lawyers tend to be discourteous to their
clients. Again, while it is not intentional,
lawyers do fall into the trap of thinking itís
the expertise they are getting hired for, not
their bedside manners. Far too often they
are juggling so many things that they are
oblivious to acts and behavior perceived by
clients as inconsiderate. Clients expect to
be cared for. A good rule of thumb is to
treat your clientís time as if it was your
own. Do your best to start client meetings
on time and hold your calls during the
meeting. If it is absolutely imperative to
take a telephone call, take it in another
office. Greet clients personally instead of
sending staff to meet them. Remember,
your job is to make your client feel like
royalty no matter how small or large the
business it has brought to the firm.

Clients want to know that you connect
with them on a human level. Take the time
to get to know them as people, find out
what they are interested in. Showing enthusiasm
and interest in what they enjoy will
go a long way towards building rapport.
Break bread with your clients; meet them
for coffee or lunch and donít charge them
for that time. Bottom line, if you want your
clients to believe you care about them, you
need to take an active role in learning who
they are as human beings.

It is not unusual for experienced
lawyers to size up a clientís situation
quickly, particularly if the attorney has
considerable experience in that area of
law. In such situations, attorneys tend to
focus only on the facts. By focusing on
facts, attorneys miss out on an essential
component: clients hired you not just for
the legal expertise but also to pay attention
to their emotions. To improve value
to clients, attorneys need to overcome
selective listening and become better at
not just ascertaining the facts but also
being cognizant of their clientsí emotions.

Keeping clients informed of the different
stages of their case is important,
particularly in the area of litigation,
where activity happens in fits and bursts.
Clients need to know that their relationship
with the attorney is ongoing during
the duration of the case.

Finally, clients have a tendency to
start complaining about billings, particularly
when they donít feel they are
receiving value. To overcome this, law
firms must provide results with the
fewest billable hours possible and
inform clients how they can reduce legal
fees by taking proactive measures. That
means changing the billable hour pressure
on attorneys, allowing the firmsí
attorneys to think in terms of the needs
of the client. Of course, when you come
up with alternative solutions that reduce
fees significantly, itís essential to let the
client know how much money was
saved.

Being a good law firm with the
appropriate skills is only part of the
equation of law firm success. Clients
expect technical competence. The key to
success is the commitment to delivering
service of premium value to your
clients. When you deliver that service,
your marketing dollars will be more
cost-effective and it will be easier to
stand apart from the competition.